Washington Blade editor Chris Crain has penned an indictment of gay Democratic activists, charging "The partisan gay groups really ought to switch names. Log Cabin Republicans have acted like Stonewall rioters, and Stonewall Dems are living in Uncle Tom's Cabin."
How so? "From the day the president announced his support for an
amendment, Log Cabin's leaders have thrown almost all their energy
into thwarting the leader of their own party...." LCR head Patrick
Guerriero "accepted dozens of invitations to appear on national
television criticizing the president and the GOP leadership in
Congress." Meanwhile:
When John Kerry came out in support of an amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution that would overturn marriage equality in the one state where it exists, the Stonewall Dems were stone cold silent. When 20% of the Democrats in the U.S. House voted in favor of the federal marriage amendment, the Stonewall Dems were stone cold silent.
As for the Human Rights Campaigns' Cheryl Jacques, she was quick to slam Dick Cheney's debate answers but "what Jacques failed to see, through her partisan-colored glasses, was that John Edwards was every bit as neglectful in his response [to an AIDS question], spending his entire answer talking about unrelated issues and health care in general."
How about the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force? "Matt Foreman, its leader, vowed to the New York Times that gay groups would never back a candidate who supports writing anti-gay discrimination into a constitution -- state or federal." But when John Kerry did exactly that, soon after "the Task Force was lauding the Democratic nominees as 'the most gay-supportive presidential ticket in American history.' "
Concludes Crain:
The gay rights movement is easily the most compliant political lobby in this country. Our opponents readily criticize their own allies when they cross their interests or don't push their agenda. Gay groups smile and say, "We understand. Of course supporting our rights is too unpopular to justify politically." ...
There will always be an excuse why now is not the time to fulfill our promise of equality. It will never be politically expedient. And politicians will never do what they have not been lobbied to do.
--Stephen H. Miller